


All of the Stars.

by ElephantsMemory



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Although Harry's age is never actually specified, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, It's just all about Louis, M/M, OH Louis is younger than Harry, One Shot, So much angst, all other relationships are minor tbh, he's like 24 probably, louis centric, probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 15:50:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13907298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElephantsMemory/pseuds/ElephantsMemory
Summary: In a world of love and soulmates, Louis has always felt alone in his negative out view on the idea of soulmates. Why spend your life pining for one person? What a stupid idea.Of course, fate has other plans. It always does.





	All of the Stars.

Thinking back to it, Louis should have known he would be a cynic. In fact, he had always been one.   
When his Mother had first ventured into the long talk about soulmates with him, a ten-year-old Louis had rolled his eyes and asked when dinner was – no questions asked, no questions answered. He ignored the mark on his wrist that had been there from the second he had formed. A simple HES written on the delicate skin. He ignored it – he always wore a bracelet, a watch, or long jumpers so nobody saw the engraving, and so he didn’t have to wonder about the person he would one day have his whole life revolve around.  
Only, everyone else seemed to be obsessed with the initial on their own bodies – Zayn constantly gushed about the LJP on his collarbone, and Niall about the LAG on his hip. They were always wondering, always. From the second they had all learnt about what the mysterious marks meant at ten-years-old, to when they were sixteen at lunch.  
“I just know my soulmate’s a man. I know I’ve always been attracted to both boys and girls but something inside me tells me it’s gonna be a boy, an older one too. LJP, I wanna know who he is now…I wish there was like, a countdown or summat.” Zayn wondered as he picked at his sandwich, his gaze somewhat vacated as he tilted his head to the side.  
“Nah, I know mine’s a girl. I mean – it would be a bit awkward if not! I love you too, no offence but I do prefer women. I think she’s the same age as me, though. Not older – maybe just a few months difference. I bet Louis will meet his first though! Would be about right: the one who cares the least will definitely meet his first.” Niall laughed at his own statement, shaking his head as he spooned some yoghurt out of his tub.  
“It’s just never appealed to me, lads! We spend our whole lives pining after someone we’ve never met – not knowing who they are, what they look like or if they’ll even be nice! I don’t know about everyone else but I would rather enjoy my life and fall in love with who I chose, lads. Or not fall in love at all! Whatever, I just wanna enjoy my life no matter what. It is what it is!” Louis scoffed at the two boy’s constant whining and drunk a sip of water, rolling his eyes just like he always did whenever the conversation on soulmates popped up. Which it seemed to everyday when it came to Niall and Zayn – they were obsessed with the idea.   
“Well, Lewis you say that now but I bet when you actually meet this H of yours, you will change your mind so quickly. Remember what they said? Meeting your soulmate is like having all the stars align, or something. It’s like everything clicks and makes sense, and you always know when you meet them because everything comes into focus and yet it feels like it’s just you and them in the whole world.” Zayn murmured.  
“Jeez, Zen did you get that straight out of a romance novel? Honestly, what you just said makes me even less excited to meet this H! I don’t want to depend on someone to give me happiness, or to live life trying to find him or her. I could be doing anything, everything! Honestly.” Zayn and Niall knew Louis had hated the idea of soulmates from the minute Jay had told him about them – but they understood why. Jay’s relationships had a notorious history of failing: Austin was not her soulmate but their relationship was a whirlwind, and the day Louis popped out, Austin’s true soulmate appeared in the form of Jay’s doctor. Then, before she could even meet her actual soulmate, the letterings disappeared from her wrist which showed that her soulmate had died. She would never meet him. Now she had Dan, and Dan’s soulmate was dead too and so they married. But their relationship was never quite as beautiful or genuine as Niall’s or Zayn’s parents. Soulmate relationships were hard to replicate; in fact, they were impossible to replicate. There was no love quite as sincere or passionate. But the reason Louis hated the idea so much was because of all the hurt Jay had, and all the hurt he had seen from forums and blogs online. He was a cynic, whatever. 

\----------------------------------------------------

Niall’s premonition was wrong, anyway. In fact, Niall was the one to meet his soulmate first at the age of seventeen when a student moved from America to England. Her name was Lucy Alexandra Goodwin and Niall fell in love with her as soon as their eyes locked during form time. They became attached to the hip instantly, and for a while when their romance was brand new and exciting Zayn and Louis mourned the loss of their ‘bro’. He was always there of course, he sat with them at lunch but Lucy was there as well and so Niall was focused on her instead of the boys’ conversation. For the first six months, Niall was never seen without Lucy on his arm and they were saying their ‘I love you’s by the second date. For the next six months Zayn and Louis saw Niall more and more, and after a year had passed they had started to adjust to not always being with each other all the time – although Niall had said at first, “being without her was like trying to resist   
But lads’ nights were obligatory and so every Friday, Niall, Zayn and Louis met up for movie nights, or pub crawls (a new tradition, considering they were all eighteen now) – anything, just without Lucy. They all loved her, really, but they just missed the days in which they were all bachelors.  
“Oi oi!” Louis called as they met up outside of Order the local club, and Louis had flirted with the bouncer so many times that they got in for free and without any troubles. “I’m not gonna lie, I know it’s lads night and all but if I do pull I’m leaving you two behind for the sake of getting laid!” Zayn and Niall rolled their eyes as they walked into the club, feeling euphoric at the heavy sound of bass and the eclectic lights. Louis walked over to the bartender and got their usual round as the other two went to their table and slammed their various arrangements of shots and beer on the table.   
“Right! I’m putting a ban on any talks of soulmates, which means sorry Niall there’s no mention of the name Lucy! Any other conversation, let it rip!” Louis chuckled and drunk his shots with the two boys, laughing as the vodka numbed his senses for the brief seconds that it linger on his throat. He shook his head and hummed ever so softly as Zayn almost stumbled from the first drink – “it’s been way too long since you drank, Zee! Look at you.”  
Zayn laughed and shoved Louis gently with one hand, ggrabbing another shot and downing it in a second – “shut it, Lou! Niall over here has been so busy we haven’t had a chance to go out on a pub crawl in months! Just been movie nights, one movie nights, because he can’t bear to be apart from Luce for more than two hours!”   
Louis rolled his eyes at the mention of soulmates already, but he knew his ban wouldn’t last for two seconds. His mates were obsessed, but luckily, they were in a club and he could escape from the boring conversation if needed.  
“Listen, I told you two! I love her and you two will one day understand that being away from your other half can get painful! Like, all their moods – you can feel them, you know? Luckily, Luce is going out with her mates tonight as well so we’ll both be too drunk to remember but we’ve only been together for just over a year! It gets easier as the years come and go, but our relationship is new!” Niall huffed and chugged down his pint, flicking Zayn’s cheek once the glass was empty.  
“Aye, I get that, Ni but come on! One night a week is all we ask. Jeez, I can’t wait for it to be ten years down the line and you realise how silly this all is! It hurts to be apart from someone…I mean, come on! I’m not here for that dependency lads! Not that I’m not happy for you and Luce, Ni! I just don’t see the appeal, myself.” Louis chugged down the rest of his third (or fourth?) shot and slammed the glass down – “I’m being a downer so I’m gonna go attempt to pull, alright! See you two later” he gave them a two-finger salute and stalked off into the crowd.  
“He arranged this lad’s night at a club and he’s the one that’s leaving us. Sounds about right,” Zayn shook his head and laughed fondly at the younger lad. Louis had always been like this though – he always attempted to find a way to leave any soulmate conversation. He hated the idea and always had, but he couldn’t really do anything about it. Except die, but that was a tad bit too extreme, really.   
Louis was lucky he was wearing a black tank top tonight, because all this grinding was starting to make him sweat. He was grinding against a guy who looked to be a frat dude at best – a snapback, a white tank top and blue jeans. With timberland boots – were those still a thing? Probably. Louis knew nothing of trends. He was too busy grinding to actually care, really.   
“Coming to mine?” the man (Lucas…Luke…Logan? Something beginning with L) asked Louis, one hand on his waist.   
“Sure, yeah. Come with me, gotta say goodbye to the lads.” Louis pulled on the man’s hand and led him to the table.   
But as soon as he saw Zayn’s face – he knew.   
He was just about to pull his best mates’ soulmate. 

\----------------------------------------------------

Louis was fuming. Fuming, and lucky. Because at the age of twenty-one (almost twenty-two) he had yet to meet his soulmate. And it wasn’t like he wanted to meet him, to be fair, because soulmates were bullshit. But, like – did HES even exist at this point? Niall was seventeen when he met Lucy, Zayn eighteen when he met Liam James Payne (as luck would have it, he never did get laid that night) and whilst they went on double dates and couple movie nights, Louis was left out always. And two (almost three, mind you) years down the line he was still single! The worst thing was, he, Zayn and Niall now shared a flat because they went to the same university. And yeah, sharing a flat would be great – if their soulmates didn’t live with them. And Louis had the bloody middle room, so when Niall and Lucy and/or Zayn and Liam were going at it, Louis had to be witness. Of course, two months into an almost nightly unwanted porn show, he bought noise cancelling earphones. He finally slept like a baby again.   
He had tried everything – he went travelling during a gap year, went all around America and his soulmate was nowhere to be found (to be fair, he hadn’t gone everywhere in each state. But if he had missed out and his soulmate lived in America, he would be even more pissed). He went to a new supermarket every week, a new coffee shop each month.   
Niall and Zayn laughed at him often. Niall would wonder “for someone who hates the concept of soulmates, you sure do go out of your way to find yours!” But Louis would throw one of his shoes at him, which would promptly shut Niall up.  
But honestly, it really hit Louis when he was on his usual commute to uni that day. Niall was kind of right, because how could Louis hate soulmates when he was kind of pining after H? He sighed after a second and put both earphones in his ears, taking a seat after he entered the train. All the loved up couples made him sick – but it also made him sad and hopeful. He wanted a love that great. He’d wanted a love that great since he’d witnessed the love in Zayn and Liam’s eyes the moment they’d seen eachother (he was incredibly embarrassed at the time, though) and he’d never stopped wanting it since. His cynical attitude – it was from that point on an act to cover the hurt he felt. He was always left alone, always. He couldn’t help but feel bad for himself, of course. Excuse him for wallowing in self pity, but it sucked that all of his friends and not just Niall and Zayn were all shacked up and practically married. Niall and Lucy were even talking about having kids as soon as they graduated in the summer. It was December, now (nearly his birthday) and honestly Louis was sick of the thought of Niall and Lucy and Zayn and Liam and every other loved up sod. He kicked the back of the seat that was in front of him and rested his head against the window as the train came to a stop at the next station.  
“Excuse me? Is this seat taken?”  
Louis looked up – and in that second, he knew. It was H. Except, instead of staying and finally becoming a loved up couple he stood up abruptly and ran out of the train, leaving behind a lovestruck and confused H behind him. 

\----------------------------------------------------

“Shit, shit, shit!” He fumbled for his key with shaky hands before he shoved the metal into the lock and pushed the door open. He threw his bag to the floor and leant against the door before he fell to the floor himself, placing his head against his knees.   
Breathe in…out…in…out.  
“Lou?” a paint covered Zayn knelt in front of Louis and tilted his head to the side, Liam standing behind him with a worried look on his face. Liam had become like a brother in the years, despite their near fuck a few years ago. Liam was graduated by now, being two years older than the others but he stayed with them and had a job nearby at the local fire station. “Lou…you okay?”  
Louis shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, looking up at Zayn. “I met H,” he murmured “and I fucking choked – I ran, I didn’t even get his name. I just know he got on the train at Waterloo and that’s it. That’s all I know. He has…he has dimples and really nice hair but he’s a fucking hipster I swear. And he wears very tight jeans, like tighter than mine.” He was practically hyperventilating, not breathing at all during his description, “and instead of saying hello to him I ran away. I couldn’t breathe, and I can’t breathe now: I feel like everything’s closing in. I don’t know what to do.” He shook his head and finally let out a deep breath.  
“Oh, Lou…You didn’t even get his name? Shit. We’ll have to figure this out. At least we know whereabouts he lives, if it’s Waterloo.” Zayn nodded his head and ran his fingers through Louis’ hair before he helped him stand up. “Come on, Lou.” Liam had disappeared to the kitchen, grabbing Louis’ cure all which happened to be tea. Honestly, Louis was so stereotypically British.   
“I could be snogging some ridiculously hot curly guy right now, I could finally be happy and I fucked it all up for myself. After all this time.”  
“Lou, shh. He’s your soulmate, you’ll find a way back to each other.”  
“I wasn’t ready.”  
“I know, bro.”

\----------------------------------------------------

Two weeks later, and it was Louis’ birthday. Also Christmas Eve, but of course his birthday was more important than that. Having his best mates live in the same hometown made a party so much easier as well, because they were all visiting their families at Christmas. The flat in London was empty, and they were currently all sat in the basement of Louis’ childhood home, drinking beer and watching films as per Louis’ request. The pizza boxes had long since been emptied, and the alcohol supply was getting low. It was a given that they’d all be hungover Christmas morning, now.  
“Gotta…Gonna go get some more booze, innit. There’s bound to be a corner shop open somewhere.” Louis nodded his head at his friends – he was the least drunk because he had the highest tolerance. Louis sighed and grabbed his coat as he left the house, wandering down the street until he reached the only open shop in Manchester, he presumed. He grabbed some alcohol and put it down on the countertop, fishing out enough money. “Keep the change!” He called as he left the shop.  
It was cold outside, he realised. And his jean jacket was doing absolutely nothing for keeping him warm. It was cold, and there was only a slight buzz of alcohol in him. He knew his mates could wait and so he took the longer way home – because, honestly, it was beautiful outside. He put his hands in his pocket, the bag handles hanging from his wrists as he wandered through the park. The emptiness of a normally overcrowded area made him feel serene. He sat down on a park bench for a moment and drew his knees to his chest, resting his chin on the caps as he glanced at the lake in front of him. He tilted his head to the side and shook his head. He was an idiot. It should’ve been his first Christmas, first birthday with his soulmate. H, the wonderful looking H. He wished he knew his first name. Was it something pretentious? Some name he’d never heard of before? Or was it Howard, or Harold, or Henry or something? He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. He flinched when he suddenly heard movement next to him – and for a moment, he was hopeful. Was it H? A Christmas miracle? He looked up and let out a disappointed sigh – it was a fucking robin. 

\----------------------------------------------------

Christmas had passed and so had January. It was now the first of February and Louis was more pissed off than ever – Niall and Zayn were already discussing Valentine’s Day plans and it was the first fucking day of the month. Exam season was over though, and he had studied his ass off so he was happy about something. Everyone had gone out to celebrate and so Louis had taggd along, despite not really feeling in a party mood.   
“I’ve got all the shots I could possibly carry!” Zayn announced as he pushed the tray onto the table. “Basically – let’s get smashed!” After a hearty call of ‘cheers’ everyone downed their shots and conversations started to flow.  
Louis was up within five minutes, ready to dance and forget about everything. Forget about everyone, and the mysterious H. He disappeared into the crowd and swung his hips, getting lost in the pounding bass and the people that surrounded him. This had always been his scene, always what had made him happy, dancing. Niall and Zayn used to laugh at him for taking dance lessons during his GCSEs, but he still secretly took lessons now. He just loved how free he felt when he danced, even if it was just grinding against people he didn’t even care to know the names of. He was thirsty though, and so he quickly ran up to the bartender to grab another shot. As he downed it, he swirled around and went to go run back onto the dance floor, only to slam into someone fall force, sending them both to floor.  
“Shit! I’m so –“ He glanced down at the man he was essentially straddling, tilting his head to the side before he gasped loudly. The curls, the dimples, the green eyes. IT all made sense “H.” he murmured (actually whimpered, but he would never admit to that).  
“Hi, L.” Shit, he had a deep and very slow voice and Louis could’ve honestly just died then and there. He felt like a teenager all over again when he gushed over all the boys who looked good on screen.  
“Louis. It’s Louis. Louis William Tomlinson.” He nodded his head quickly and stood up, helping H up with him.  
“You’ve had me waiting for quite a long time, Louis. I’m Harry. Harry Edward Styles.”  
And in that moment, the stars aligned.


End file.
